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Canada boycotts Iranian president’s UN speech; U.S. walks out

Canada boycotts the speech by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and the U.S. delegation walks out when he speculates the U.S. was behind Sept. 11 terror attacks. (Sept. 23, 2010) (MIKE SEGAR / REUTERS)

By Ali Akbar DareiniAssociated Press

Thu., Sept. 23, 2010

NEW YORK, N.Y.—The U.S. delegation walked out of the UN speech of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Thursday after he said some in the world have speculated that Americans were actually behind the Sept. 11 terror attacks, staged in an attempt to assure Israel’s survival.

And Canada boycotted Ahmadinejad’s speech for the same reasons.

Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon calls Ahmadinejad’s comments on 9-11, the United States and Israel “unacceptable” and an affront to the spirit of the UN.

He accuses Iran of covering up its nuclear activities and of failing to comply with UN standards for disclosure, and for making efforts to deceive the world community.

The Canadian delegation also boycotted the Iranian president during a speech on Tuesday when he addressed the UN’s Millennium Development Goals summit.

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“Ahmadinejad’s comments on the 9-11 terrorist attacks, on the United States, and the repeated unjust condemnation of Israel are unacceptable,” Cannon said in his statement.

“Iran’s 20-year history of covering up its nuclear activities requires that the authorities take steps to address a serious confidence deficit. Its non-compliance, coupled with unacceptable statements Iran has made against other nations, is a destabilizing threat to the region, and to the world.”

Ahmadinejad did not explain his logic as he attacked the U.S. wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. He said there were three theories about the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks:

No 1: That a “powerful and complex terrorist group” penetrated U.S. intelligence and defences.

No. 2: “That some segments within the U.S. government orchestrated the attack to reverse the declining American economy and its grips on the Middle East in order also to save the Zionist regime. The majority of the American people as well as other nations and politicians agree with this view.”

The Americans stood and walked out without listening to the third theory that the attack was the work of “a terrorist group but the American government supported and took advantage of the situation.”

Mark Kornblau, spokesman of the U.S. Mission to the world body, issued a statement within moments of Ahmadinejad’s attack.

“Rather than representing the aspirations and goodwill of the Iranian people,” he said, “Mr. Ahmadinejad has yet again chosen to spout vile conspiracy theories and anti-Semitic slurs that are as abhorrent and delusional as they are predictable.”

The Iranian leader spoke of threats to burn the Qur’an by a small American church in Florida to mark the anniversary of the Sept. 11 terror attacks. Although that church backed down, several copycat burnings were posted on the Internet and broadcast in the Muslim world.

“Very recently the world witnessed the ugly and inhumane act of burning the holy Qur’an,” Ahmadinejad said.

He briefly touch on the four sets of sanctions imposed on his country by the United Nations over Tehran’s refusal stop enriching uranium and to prove Iran is not trying to build an atomic bomb.

Some members of the Security Council have “equated *nuclear energy with nuclear bombs,” Ahmadinejad said.

He accused the United States of building up its nuclear arsenal instead of dismantling it and reiterated his call for a nuclear-free world.

“The nuclear bomb is the worst inhumane weapon and which must totally be eliminated. The NPT (Nonproliferation Treaty) prohibits its development and stockpiling and calls for nuclear disarmament,” the Iranian president said.

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